


Blind Sighted

by orphan_account



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Blind Character, Blindness, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 21:05:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5020522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Stanford is asked an old and unexpected question and tries to use it as an excuse to teach his nephew a lesson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blind Sighted

Honestly, he didn't think it was all that noticeable. After 34 years, he'd learned to adapt. It was one of his finer traits that saved his life an uncountable amount of times, even if by the skin of his teeth. Whether he lost his touch since coming home, or his nephew truly had such an attention to detail, Stanford couldn't quite tell. However, that wasn't at the forefront of his mind when the child asked his question.

“Grunkle Ford, is… Is everything all right with your eye...” Dipper asked hesitantly, small fingers curling and clutching one another, eyes not quite able to meet his own. Though perhaps he had good reason.

“If-if it's okay for me to ask! Oh man, I'm sorry. Y-you don't have to answer that. It really isn't any of my business, and I-” The poor child stammered out his words a mile a minute, and Stanford couldn't help the small twitch in his heart. He was well-meaning, and even though he never thought he would hear such a question again, Stanford still smiled at him nonetheless.

“It's all right, Dipper. I understand. If anything, it's good that you asked! Rather perceptive of you actually,” He grinned, turning his chair about leaning forward to properly try to meet his gaze. 

Though hesitant, Dipper finally met his eyes and swallowed thickly before beaming at his uncle. “Oh, really? Phew!”

He wiped the back of his hand across his brow, bangs shifting out of place, though he quickly made sure to tug his cap back down. Stanford nodded, pausing for a moment. How much detail could he give a child? Stanley didn't put up too much fuss when he gave Mabel a crossbow. Not to mention she already owned a grappling hook. They were both projectiles and could be used as formidable weapons. If children were allowed to have weapons, surely there wouldn't be any harm in telling an old story. Dipper was a smart boy, so much like himself. So if he himself lived through it, he would be able to handle it.

“Everything is fine with my eye. I'm just blind,” He said, tapping a finger blow his left one.

Dipper's brows furrowed, a small frown settling on his lips. He lowered his hands, watching as the gears turned in his head. 

“So wait… It's okay, but you can't see out of it?” He asked slowly.

Stanford blinked at him, pulling his chair a bit closer. “Well, I can somewhat. Everything is just grey, a bit fuzzy. It took a bit of time to adjust to my lack of depth perception. I had to spend a bit of time staying in the first level of the house after I nearly fell down the stairs once.”

He gave a wry, lopsided smile. Dipper's eyes widened. “What even happened?” He asked, voice laced with both confusing and concern.

Stanford laced his hands together, pursing his lips. How much detail would be acceptable? Well, Mabel did come back drenched in unicorn blood. If she could handle a brawl with those terrors, then surely her brother could handle merely listening to a small fight. 

He gave a soft, long, drawn-out sigh. “When I came to Gravity Falls after I got my first Ph. D, it was originally just me and my research. Everything I cataloged, researched, studied, I did it all alone. I didn't mind it, though. I can assure you that much.”

Dipper gave a small smile, hands now falling completetly to his sides.

“It was just me, my house, and my studies. With being buried chest deep in it all, my mind was always preoccupied. That being said, it also meant I had to watch my back all of those times. Sometimes, however, you can't always have both. Safety or accomplishment.” He continued, tone light and almost dismissive.

“Of course, if you ask me, accomplishment out weighs safety every time. The future can't progress if you don't venture into the unknown.”

Dipper nodded along, eyes large once again and keenly set on him. “Of course!” 

Stanford grinned at him again and nodded as well, “So about 34 years ago, I was on the hunt for a creature I could only catch a glimpse of out of the corner of my eye, something I was dead set on logging in my journal on. I didn't want to leave a half baked entry with little to add, and I had no intentions of giving up til I could grasp some sort of tangible proof of its existence as either real or a hoax.”

He braced an elbow on his knee and cradled his chin in his hand, gaze lifting to the ceiling. “I didn't manage to find it that day, though I did find a giant spider.”

Drumming his fingers across his chin, he looked back down at Dipper. Hands now clutched in front of him, he tried to fight back the small hints of a smile on his face. He dropped his hand and propped up his other elbow.

“Of course, as you can tell, I got out of that bind. Broke four of its six legs, actually! Sure, I lost most of the sight in my left eye, but...”

He shot a crooked smile at Dipper and shook a finger at him. “Sometimes you need to make sacrifices for what matters the most to you.”

He nodded at Stanford, no longer fighting his smile. “Sure thing. How else will things get better, right?”

His uncle chuckle, patting him atop the head and skewing his cap a bit. “Exactly right, my boy! I'm glad I could teach you this lesson. It's an important thing to keep in mind.

He dropped his hand, and Dipper nodded once more, not bothering to fix his hat. “I'll be sure to do that.”

“Great! Now why don't you go run upstairs? Your Grunkle Stan should be working on dinner right now, hm?”

“Oh! Right.” He gave an awkward laugh and let his rubbed at the back of his neck, eyes shifting toward the elevator. Smile softening, he turned about and made his way to it and called it down.

“See you later, Grunkle Ford.” 

Stanford waved his good-byes as he listened to the rumble of the elevator before heaving a sigh. Turning his chair back to his desk, he rested both elbows on the chilled metal, clasping his hands together, resting his chin on this thumbs. He shifted in his seat and looked up at the cabinet off to the side. Heaving a deep sigh through his nose and dropping his hands onto the desk, he stared down for a moment before snatching up his pen with a shake of his head. 

He had many lessons left to teach Dipper. That one was merely a taste of what to come.


End file.
